In the Land of Gods and Monsters
by eminemini
Summary: Bella is a runaway, trying to get home. After a chance meeting with a friendly bar tender, she is sent on a cross country trip to her hometown in the passenger seat of a handsome criminal who is not what he seems. But Bella is not who she appears to be either. Can they make it to their destination without killing one another, or does fate have other plans?
1. Chapter One

Hey, guys!

So I've decided I want to pull this story and try to publish it on Kindle. I've always wanted to be a writer and this story just has a special place in my heart. I'd like to put it out there.

I've started a facebook page for fans of this story so if you want to go follow me there you can get posts about the sequel I'm working on and also info about how the publishing process is going and when you could get the book if you're interested. I've really cherished all of the support and encouragement I've gotten from you guys.

I've posted a little sneak peak to the beginning of chapter one for the sequel. Let me know your thoughts and I really hope I'll see some of you over at my facebook page or even over on my amazon account.

If you want to join my facebook page look for me under 'Eminemi' in pages on your facebook. I'll post a link in my bio too.

Emineminific/?ref=br_rs

For some reason when I save the link to this it keeps cutting it short so if this doesn't work us the one in my bio. I'll be posting stuff on there about the kindle stuff and I also can put up later chapters for people who didn't finish the whole fic.


	2. Sample

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, only the story.

Author's note: Here's the beginning of chapter one of the sequel. I decided to change perspectives so it's taken me a little to get going but I wanted to give you guys a little sample and see what you think.

Chapter One

Killing people isn't fun but sometimes, it's gotta be done. Every once in a while, though, there comes along a special someone who you just can't wait to be rid of. Sometimes, the thought makes you smile. Vincent Torres was one of those people.

The warehouse was rundown, but stood large and imposing against the darkening sky. I'd been here before a handful of times on Kline's request. The place held nothing but violent memories for me and, usually, I wouldn't have been happy to be back. Torture had never been my specialty, just a necessary evil. I wasn't an inherently violent person. That night, though, there was no place I'd rather be.

I looked to the woman beside me, grinning a little at the fire in her dark eyes, the way her mouth set into a tight line, anticipation rolling over her. She faltered a little on her injured leg and I reached out for her, lacing my arm around her waist and pulling her into me. She was soft and warm against my body and I wanted to touch her everywhere. I always wanted to touch her everywhere. Usually, she let me.

She wrenched her head back to look up at me and I chuckled at how small she was. Such ferocity in such as tiny package. I didn't doubt she'd kill me without so much as a thought if I tried to fuck her over. I never would, but the knowledge made me smile. I'd never met anyone like her.

"What're you lookin' at?" she snapped.

"I need an excuse to check out my hot girlfriend?" I defended and she shoved me in the chest like she always did when I said things like that, rolling her eyes.

"Not really the time for that, Edward."

Over the last two days of traveling, things had seemed different. She was still her typical hard-ass self, but something seemed softer. She was more comfortable comfortable with me. She didn't pull away when I grabbed her hand or tried to put my arm around her. She didn't flinch when I tucked her into my side in bed. I wondered if she belied me, if she really believed that I loved her. I wondered if she'd meant what she's said when she told me she loved me, too. If she'd lied…

Damn, that would hurt like a bitch.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

She nodded. "I was ready like a week ago."

I chuckled, pressing my lips to her temple quickly.

"Then let's get this shit done with. I'm tired of the asshole breathing."

I helped her along and, when we got close, Terence met us at the door. Remy stood off to the side, meticulously cleaning a large knife off with a blood stained rag. The guy really was a psycho. He hadn't spoken more than ten words to me in all the time since I'd met him but he killed like he'd been built for it. Maybe he had. It wouldn't have surprised me if the guy was a cyborg.

"Where's our friend at?" I asked. "You didn't have all the fun without us, did you?"

Terence shook his head, the big scar on his face catching the dim light coming from the back exit.

"He's still alive, just barely. We got everything outta him we could. I think Kline'll be satisfied. He wants the two of you to meet up with him after, talk about where you're gonna go next. I think he's lookin' for some foot soldiers to send down south, set up his new business."

I'd known that Kline had his own agenda when he agreed to help us out. He was my friend and all, but the guy wasn't going to risk a turf war for the sake of pleasantries. Him and Torres had been the biggest dealers in the south for a while, splitting it right down the middle. But Kline had the resources and manpower to do more, if only his competition was out of the way. The operation wasn't dead by any means, but without a leader they were vulnerable. As much as I hated it, if he asked we'd have to go. The debt had to be paid.

Bella tensed beside me. I knew she wouldn't like that. She didn't like staying in one place for too long. It made her antsy and I understood how she felt. Neither of us was used to being tied down. We liked to wander. I wrapped her hand in mine, ignoring the way her nails dug into my palm, silently letting me know the idea freaked her out. I squeezed her hand back.

"Will do. Let's get to it then, huh?" I said and pulled her through the door behind me, tugging the gun from my waistband and cocking it.

Torres sat in the middle of the building-tied to a chair, face bloodied, clothes covered in dust and something black and sticky that I assumed was from older injuries. The boys had done a real number on him. What a shame I couldn't be there to participate. But I never would have gone without Bella-partially because I figured she'd wanna be there, partially because I was worried she was gonna bolt on me again if I left her in suburban hell.

"Hey, Vince. How's it goin'?" I asked casually but he didn't move, didn't even look up. I tapped him on the side of his head with my pistol. Nothing. So I knocked him hard in the jaw. His head rolled back, his eyes meeting mine. "You look like shit." I spat. "Don't worry. It'll be over soon. But first, I'd like a few things from you."

"I...I told them everything. I don't know what else…" His voice was garbled and it made me smile like a madman.

"See, that's not what I want from you though, Torres. Actually, I find it kinda hard to believe you don't know why I'm here."

I leaned in close, pressing the barrel hard against his crotch before sliding it down to the same place where his men had shot Bella and pulling the trigger. The shot rang out and he cried. It was music to my ears.

"Just kill me! Fucking kill me already."

I grinned, glancing back at my girl. She stood there, arms crossed, face stone cold as she watched me. I could see it in her eyes. She wanted to do this herself. She wanted her own retribution. Who was I to deny her? Clearly, I couldn't deny her anything.

"Whatdya think, babe? You think we should put the poor bastard out of his misery?"

She pursed her lips and thought for a second, stumbling closer. When her eyes flashed to mine, I saw murder behind them and it took my breath away.

"Why don't you give him one in the shoulder? Only seems fair." she said, then looked down to the man who had put all of this into motion.

I did what she asked and he cried out again, the ringing in my ears almost drowning him out. It was time to be done with it but I wouldn't do it alone. I'd give Bella the blood she craved.

"You got your gun?"

She looked at me like I was nuts.

"Of course I have my gun, Cullen."

I laughed a little at that. Cullen meant she was serious, meant she thought I was a moron. I raised my gun and pressed it to Torres' temple, gesturing for her to mimic my action on the opposite side. She did, pulling back the hammer of the big revolver so fast it was like she'd know I was going to ask.

I counted down, three, two…

"Adios, motherfucker."

Bang.

We killed him together-Bella and I, the way it was supposed to be.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys! If you are interested the full edited version of this it's up on amazon for 2.99. Check out my facebook page. Just look up Eminemini under the pages section in your facebook search bar to find the link. You guys really gave me the confidence to do this and I appreciate if anyone at all wants to follow me over. The second book is well underway and I'll be posting the whole first three chapters of that along with this. Again, I just wanna say how much youre support has meant to me and how much I appreciated every single review.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, only the story. Enjoy!

Chapter One

Killing people isn't fun but sometimes, it's gotta be done. Every once in a while, though, there comes along a special someone who you just can't wait to be rid of. Sometimes, the thought makes you smile. Vincent Torres was one of those people.

The warehouse was rundown, but stood large and imposing against the darkening sky. I'd been here before a handful of times on Kline's request. The place held nothing but violent memories for me and, usually, I wouldn't have been happy to be back. Torture had never been my specialty, just a necessary evil. I wasn't an inherently violent person. That night, though, there was no place I'd rather be.

I looked to the woman beside me, grinning a little at the fire in her dark eyes, the way her mouth set into a tight line, anticipation rolling over her. She faltered a little on her injured leg and I reached out for her, lacing my arm around her waist and pulling her into me. She was soft and warm against my body and I wanted to touch her everywhere. I always wanted to touch her everywhere. Usually, she let me.

She wrenched her head back to look up at me and I chuckled at how small she was. Such ferocity in such as tiny package. I didn't doubt she'd kill me without so much as a thought if I tried to fuck her over. I never would, but the knowledge made me smile. I'd never met anyone like her.

"What're you lookin' at?" she snapped.

"I need an excuse to check out my hot girlfriend?" I defended and she shoved me in the chest like she always did when I said things like that, rolling her eyes.

"Not really the time for that, Edward."

Edward. I liked it when she called me Edward. It was something she'd hardly ever done, but over the last two days of traveling, things had seemed different. She was still her typical hard-ass self, but something seemed softer. She was more comfortable comfortable with me. She didn't pull away when I grabbed her hand or tried to put my arm around her. She didn't flinch when I tucked her into my side in bed. I wondered if she believed me, if she really believed that I loved her. I wondered if she'd meant what she's said when she told me she loved me, too. If she'd lied…

Damn, that would hurt like a bitch.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

She nodded. "I was ready like a week ago."

I chuckled, pressing my lips to her temple quickly.

"Then let's get this shit done with. I'm tired of the asshole breathing."

I helped her along and, when we got close, Terence met us at the door. Remy stood off to the side, meticulously cleaning a large knife off with a blood stained rag. The guy really was a psycho. He hadn't spoken more than ten words to me in all the time since I'd met him but he killed like he'd been built for it. Maybe he had. It wouldn't have surprised me if the guy was a cyborg.

"Where's our friend at?" I asked. "You didn't have all the fun without us, did you?"

Terence shook his head, the big scar on his face catching the dim light coming from the back exit.

"He's still alive, just barely. We got everything outta him we could. I think Kline'll be satisfied. He wants the two of you to meet up with him after, talk about where you're gonna go next. I think he's lookin' for some foot soldiers to send down south, set up his new business."

I'd known that Kline had his own agenda when he agreed to help us out. He was my friend and all, but the guy wasn't going to risk a turf war for the sake of pleasantries. Him and Torres had been the biggest dealers in the south for a while, splitting it right down the middle. But Kline had the resources and manpower to do more, if only his competition was out of the way. The operation wasn't dead by any means, but without a leader they were vulnerable. As much as I hated it, if he asked we'd have to go. The debt had to be paid.

Bella tensed beside me. I knew she wouldn't like that. She didn't like staying in one place for too long. It made her antsy and I understood how she felt. Neither of us was used to being tied down. We liked to wander. I wrapped her hand in mine, ignoring the way her nails dug into my palm, silently letting me know the idea freaked her out. I squeezed her hand back.

"Will do. Let's get to it then, huh?" I said and pulled her through the door behind me, tugging the gun from my waistband and cocking it.

Torres sat in the middle of the building-tied to a chair, face bloodied, clothes covered in dust and something black and sticky that I assumed was from older injuries. The boys had done a real number on him. What a shame I couldn't be there to participate. But I never would have gone without Bella-partially because I figured she'd wanna be there, partially because I was worried she was gonna bolt on me again if I left her in suburban hell.

"Hey, Vince. How's it goin'?" I asked casually but he didn't move, didn't even look up. I tapped him on the side of his head with my pistol. Nothing. So I knocked him hard in the jaw. His head rolled back, his eyes meeting mine. "You look like shit." I spat. "Don't worry. It'll be over soon. But first, I'd like a few things from you."

"I...I told them everything. I don't know what else…" His voice was garbled and it made me smile like a madman.

"See, that's not what I want from you though, Torres. Actually, I find it kinda hard to believe you don't know why I'm here."

I leaned in close, pressing the barrel hard against his crotch before sliding it down to the same place where his men had shot Bella and pulling the trigger. The shot rang out and he cried. It was music to my ears.

"Just kill me! Fucking kill me already."

I grinned, glancing back at my girl. She stood there, arms crossed, face stone cold as she watched me. I could see it in her eyes. She wanted to do this herself. She wanted her own retribution. Who was I to deny her? Clearly, I couldn't deny her anything.

"Whatdya think, babe? You think we should put the poor bastard out of his misery?"

She pursed her lips and thought for a second, stumbling closer. When her eyes flashed to mine, I saw murder behind them and it took my breath away.

"Why don't you give him one in the shoulder? Only seems fair." she said, then looked down to the man who had put all of this into motion.

I did what she asked and he cried out again, the ringing in my ears almost drowning him out. It was time to be done with it but I wouldn't do it alone. I'd give Bella the blood she craved.

"You got your gun?"

She looked at me like I was nuts.

"Of course I have my gun, Edward."

I laughed a little at that. Edward meant she was serious, meant she thought I was a moron. I raised my gun and pressed it to Torres' temple, gesturing for her to mimic my action on the opposite side. She did, pulling back the hammer of the big revolver so fast it was like she'd know I was going to ask.

I counted down, three, two…

"Adios, motherfucker."

Bang.

We killed him together-Bella and I, the way it was supposed to be.

Blood splattered, guts and gore hit the ground behind the body. His head was pretty much gone and I looked over to see how my partner in crime was going to react. I didn't know what I expected to see-fear or disgust-but she only lowered her gun and tucked it back into place at her back, wiping the spots of red from her face. Then she turned and took one step towards me, closing the distance between us.

"Thank you." she said, then pulled me down to her lips.

She kissed me slow, soft, and it took me aback. Her fingers ghosted across the little bit of stubble on my jaw and she breathed me in. I felt something different stirring inside her, not lust but gratitude. Affection. Real affection.

The way it made me feel...she might as well have swooned and called me her hero.

When she pulled away, I put my arm around her shoulder and spun us around. The guys stood there watching, Terence with his arms crossed over his chest, Remy looking uninterested as usual. We made our way to stand in front of them, the corpse behind us forgotten as far as I was concerned.

"Did you have to make such a damn mess, Edward? That was some Boondock Saints shit you did back there. It's gonna be a bitch to clean up."

I shrugged.

"Remy doesn't seem to mind gettin' dirty. Actually..." I glanced over at him, filthy and staring off into space. "...seems like he likes the gorey stuff."

Remy grunted.

"I'll take care of it. Clean up. Dump the body. You guys can go."

That felt like a lot of words from him.

"Seriously, you guys should get going. Kline's expecting you. I'll shoot you a text with the address of where he wants to meet."

"He doesn't want us to come to the house?" I asked.

"Don't think the missus would be too happy with that."

I nodded. There wasn't a lot that Kline didn't share with Lena on some level. They'd met under extreme circumstances and the bond between those two was solid. Sometimes, though, the fact that she was so involved in his business irritated me. She wasn't like us. She didn't know what it was like, what it took to make it in this world.

"'Kay. Whatever you say." I glanced down at our clothes, seeing just how stained they were and added, "We'll go change and clean up and get over there. Lemme know where I'm headed."

He nodded and we left. Bella didn't say a word as we walked to the car, or even as we pulled out onto the main drive to our motel. We were on the ground floor and I parked right outside the door so we could get in fast without being seen. I knew Bella was still having a hard time putting weight on her one side, so I came around to open her door and let her out. She batted my hand away though, hauling herself up and shooing me out of her way.

"I can do it myself, Edward." she snapped. I held my hands up and stepped back, letting her shuffle awkwardly to the door. "Just open it and go start the shower."

I slid the keycard in and shoved it open, letting her go first. She scoffed at me and I knew we were gearing up for a fight. Not that that was really my fault. There wasn't anything I could do to change the situation we'd found ourselves in, unless we decided to run. I didn't like that idea and I also didn't think it was a solution. Kline had stuck his neck out for us and we owed him our loyalty. People had died. He had lost men.

All because I'd fallen in love with her crazy ass.

The shower sputtered to life and I stripped out of my clothes, wondering if Bella was going to join me of if she was stewing in the other room. I waited, letting the hot water wash over my face. Blood tinted red swirled at my feet. It didn't bother me. I'd seen it plenty of times before. The first time, though, it had just about crushed me. I'd been just a kid back then.

"Edward?" her voice was soft behind me and the curtain was pulled back.

She was naked, her eyes down, and she stepped in. I pulled her in front of me and stepped out of the spray. My hands ran over her shoulders, down her sides, around to the front until I was cupping her breasts, my fingers teasing her nipples. I could feel myself harden and pressed into her back.

"Edward, we don't have time." she breathed.

I groaned, kissing along her neck, and slammed my eyes shut. She was right but I didn't want to stop touching her.

"I know. You seem tense, though. Thought I'd help you relax…"

I smirked, knowing I was working her up and that she'd probably tell me to fuck off. She turned in my arms, her brows pulled together, causing a little wrinkle form between her eyes. I loved her eyes. So dark I could hardly see where her pupil ended and her iris began.

What a beautiful devil she was.

"I don't wanna work for Kline. I've already wasted so much time...all this shit with Torres. It wasn't a part of my plan. I don't know how I got so off track. I'm not this person. I don't get distracted. I...I wanna go after Romano. You know, strike while the iron is hot. I know you don't think…"

I shook my head, smoothing out the lines in her forehead.

"Baby, you're talkin' crazy. You can't just go kill Romano. He's not some cheating husband or something. He's...he is Chicago. And worse, he knows who you are. You can't fool him. Which means you gotta catch him by surprise. That's not happening right now. Also...we owe people. Big time. This ain't the minor leagues anymore. We're mixed up with some seriously powerful people."

"You don't think I can handle it?"

She looked so offended.

"I'm not trying to slight you, Bella. But you're not a nomad anymore. People know you and Romano has eyes on you, you can bet on that. You could run...but I really don't want that…"

I couldn't begin to tell her how much I didn't want that. After everything we had been through, after all the trouble she'd gotten me into, I knew I shouldn't care. I knew I should want her as far away from me as possible. But there was just something about the woman I couldn't shake. When she was irritated, it made me laugh, and when she was enraged, it made my body stir in a way it never had before. The way she challenged me, the way she went after what she wanted, the way she never backed down from anything...I'd never been with a woman quite like her. Nevermind that, in those moments when we were close, when she demanded that I touch her, she was pure sex. If she ran, I wasn't sure anyone would ever compare.

"I...I don't wanna run anymore. I just don't know…"

I leaned my head against hers, my hand running up the side of her slender neck. The water was starting to run cold but we both ignored it. Bella wasn't good with feelings. Hell, I wasn't either. I just didn't know how else to make her stay. I didn't know how else to make her see how perfect this was, how perfect we were together. She had to know. I had to tell her.

"Then you're not going anywhere. Wherever we go, we go together. We'll figure the rest out. Don't fucking sweat it. We'll make it all happen. I promise you."

"And I'm supposed to trust you, right?" she asked. I could hear the scepticism in her voice.

I'd told her she could. I'd told her I would prove to her that she could.

"Have I ever given you a reason not to?"

She looked down and shook her head. I didn't think I had.

"Then let's go meet Kline and get on to the next thing. I got you, you got me. That's all that matters."

For me, that was true. But I could see the gears turning in Bella's head. She was consumed by her desire for revenge and it clouded her choices. Her single-mindedness and the hate she felt was overwhelming. I could see the way it swallowed her whole and I understood, in my own way. Though, I'd never hated someone the way that Bella hated her father-so intensely that she didn't care if it killed her, didn't care if she died so long as he suffered.

She didn't say anything to me, only nodded and I turned off the shower. We wrapped up in the cheap, yellowed towels and went about getting dressed, doing our best to look like we hadn't just blown someone away. My hair was getting long and I did my best to push it back, out of my eyes. Neither of us had very much. I pulled one of the few shirts I had on me along with the loose fitting pair of jeans Bella had bought after we'd escaped her father. I turned to watch her as she wrung out her hair. It fell halfway down her back and the wet strands soaked her white t-shirt. The baggy cargo pants hung off her hips and she looked so small, so harmless.

What a fucking joke.

"You ready to go?" I asked.

She shook her head yes and I checked my phone. I knew where we were going. It was a dive bar that Kline liked to frequent. He liked to do his business in public, out where everyone could see him talking with friends, being normal. Lots of people watched him, I was sure. After all of the trouble he'd gotten into a few years back, the DEA and ATF had his number. Despite his casual demeanor, he was not someone you wanted to mess with. He'd built an empire, and now he wanted me to build him a bigger one. It wasn't my kind of thing. I'd never been anyone's flunky. It was something I prided myself on. I was my own man and I made my own way. Unfortunately, that was about to change.

Kline had a booth in the corner of the bar and he was dressed to the nines as usual-navy blue suit, white dress-shirt, silk tie. He looked like a he was running for mayor and sometimes I wondered if, in another life, he wouldn't have been a politician. He was plenty charismatic and also plenty dirty. I mean, I liked the guy but he was a fooler and Bella was about to see that. The polite, southern gentleman she had met at the restaurant in downtown Nashville all those weeks ago was not who we were meeting that night.

We were meeting Kline, the crime boss. A very different animal.

"Hey, Kline. You wanted to see me?" I greeted him and slid into the booth, pulling Bella in beside me. She smiled pleasantly and I knew she was putting on her game face, as usual. There was no need. He wasn't the kinda guy to fall for that shit.

"I see your little trouble maker's still hanging around." he remarked and her smile fell, my first clenched. "I half thought she'd split once the threat had been...taken care of. I was worried about you, bud."

"Let's not waste time talking about my personal life. I...we both really appreciate what you've done for us but let's not pretend you didn't have things in mind other than just saving my ass. Time to get down to business. What you got in mind for us?"

"Well, hold up there. Why don't you two order some drinks. There's no rush."

Maybe not for him, but I was ready to get whatever this was over with.

"Babe, why don't you grab us two whiskeys from the bar."

She narrowed her eyes at me. She knew I was trying to get rid of her.

"I'm a grown up, Edward. If you think you're just gonna push me out of-"

"Just go get us our drinks." I stared her down for a moment, doing my best to let her know this was not up for discussion. Eventually she huffed, mumbled a tight 'fine' and stalked off into the small crowd.

"Funny. I don't remember Angel being such as spit fire."

I shook my head at the sound of the fake name she liked to use.

"Yeah, well, life's full of surprises."

"Probably gets it from her father…"

I leveled him with a glare. Why were we still talking about this?

"Angel doesn't have a father." I seethed.

She didn't. She had a demon spawn for a sperm donor. She'd always hated me calling Romano her dad and, considering everything that had happened, considering she'd almost died because of his greed, I was beginning to hate it just as much. He'd thought he could own her but he couldn't. She was mine-my girl-and when the time came I was going to put the bastard six feet under.

"How you gonna deal with that, Edward?"

"I don't wanna deal with anything right now other than figuring out what you want from me. Terence told me you were looking for foot soldiers. That me?"

Kline took a deep breath, taking a sip of his drink and folding his hands together on the sticky tabletop.

"Not just you, no. I wanna put together something of a team to head down south. Considering your woman was involved in this little sting operation we just ran, I'm assuming she ain't exactly what she appears. And after everything you did to hold onto that one I'm guessing you wouldn't go without her, so she can come. is going and Remy. Even if he is a psycho, he's a good enforcer. I've got a few others but nobody you know."

"So where do I fit into this? What exactly will I be doing?"

"I want you to head it up. I know Santos had a deal with him. I know you brokered it. I also know that you had an in there to even get a meeting with the guy."

"Lando." I said.

I hadn't heard from him in awhile but he had been my informant on what was going on down there for years. Him and I had been best friends in another life. We'd both worked for Santos at one point, until he'd joined up with the marines and gone overseas. He'd always wanted to go straight. Clearly, life hadn't worked out that way for him.

"What'd I miss?" Bella said, plopping down on the end of the bench seat and sliding a whiskey towards me.

"Not much." I said. She looked at me like I was lying. "We got a job. Kline wants us to go down south for a while and set him up."

"He does, does he?"

God, I didn't need this from her right now.

"Yeah. So when you want us to head out?"

I turned to look at Kline and he smiled, meeting both of our eyes.

"I was thinking tomorrow. The sooner the better, right? Call your contact. I've got a little place down there where you guys can stay. It's nothing too fancy but I think you'll like it."

I couldn't have cared less about whatever accommodations he had lined up for us.

"Is it at least by the beach?" I joked.

Kline chuckled.

"I'll send you the info tonight and you can head out tomorrow. Lena says hi, by the way. The four of us will have to get together again soon. You girls seemed to hit it off."

Kline's friendly demeanor was back in place. He was done talking business and I wouldn't hear anymore about what he had in mind for me tonight. I got it. He didn't know Bella so of course he wouldn't be comfortable discussing things with her. That being said, I knew she was gonna bust my balls about it and saying things like 'you girls hit it off' was not helping. I squeezed her leg under the table, silently begging her to please just keep her mouth shut until we got out of there.

"Sounds great." I said and threw back the rest of my drink. "I'm sure Angel would love that. Wouldn't you, babe?"

She glanced at me sideways and nodded stiffly.

"Oh, yeah. That sounds great."

She looked like she wanted to kill us both.

We sat and made small talk for a little bit until Kline announced that he had to leave. I shook his hand and he pulled me in for a quick hug. He'd always been a hugger and I'd be lying if I said that hadn't always made me a little uncomfortable. Casual affection was fine and all but Kline took it a little too far.

If Bella could have stomped to the car, she would have. She looked like a kid throwing a tantrum, stumbling along on her healing leg and the sight made me laugh a little. When she spun around to glare at me, I laughed harder. She flug open the door and fell in, slamming it behind her and I was hysterical. Yeah, we were definitely gonna fight after that. When I started the engine, she crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.

"Don't be like that, babe." I said, still chuckling under my breath.

"I'll be however I want."

I shook my head. What the hell had I gotten myself into with her? It was going to be one interesting ride, that was for sure. Never a dull moment.

Chapter Two

I was tired. Just dead tired. I'd been driving forever and the sight of the 'Welcome to Charleston' sign made me give a sigh of relief. It was about six o'clock in the evening and Bella was fast asleep. Neither of us had slept very much the night before. She'd yelled and I'd done my best to calm her down. I'd spent a good part of the morning trying to get a hold of Lando but his phone was going straight to voicemail. I wondered if he was okay, not that I was too worried. The guy was kind of a spaz.

The city flew past me and I directed my attention to the GPS instructions on my new phone. The place Kline had set up for us was in one of the sketchier parts of town, not that I minded. In most cities, there was a fine line between trendy downtown neighborhoods and ghettos. I'd spent plenty of my life living on the wrong side of the tracks. It was how I'd gotten into the business I was in. Back then, dealing was easy. I'd been the youngest on the street. It'd been the best way for me to get out, or at least that was how I'd seen it at the time. When I met Santos, it had been the perfect storm. Everything I'd learned, everything I'd done...I'd finally gotten the resources I needed to make something of myself.

And here I was. Working for Kline-something I never would have chosen for myself-all because I'd gone and fallen for some chick Santos had taken in off the streets. Sometimes, I told myself I was crazy. I was giving up too much. But what else could I do? Things would go back to normal one day, wouldn't they? When all of this was over and our enemies were dead. When my debt was replayed. Then things could go back to the way they were before.

As much as I liked to tell myself that, I knew it probably wasn't true.

I nudged Bella in the side, trying to wake her. She took in a deep breath and mumbled, coming awake slowly. She had dark circles under her eyes and, as bad as she looked, I knew I looked worse. As little as she'd slept, I'd slept less. Because I knew we were walking into a shitstorm. I suspected she knew too but Bella was a loner. As much experience as she had in the crime world, as many people she had killed, she didn't know jack shit about what we were walking into. This was a turf war. It was like nothing she had ever experiences. There would be blood and, while I didn't doubt that she could carry out a kill, I was sure she'd never faced this kind of thing before. I hadn't either, not directly. There were times when Kline had asked me to take care of one thing or another and I had, but never had I been the driving force behind a takeover. It was new territory.

"Bella...come on. Get up. We're almost there."

She blinked twice and looked at me, eyes hooded.

"How long was I out?"

"Eh, an hour or two. Not long. Place is just around the corner. You can go right back to sleep." I said.

"I'm not going back to sleep now. It's early."

"Well Terence and Remy will be by in a few and we got business to do. We're looking for some people and, no offence, but I think you should hang back. You're skills aren't necessary for this."

Bella liked to flirt to get her way. Hell, she'd flirted with Lando when she'd met him and she hadn't even needed to. It was just the way she was. Sometimes she was right. Sex sells. But I didn't need her selling sex to potential Torres turn coats.

"Why you always trying to cut me out of everything? I don't wanna sit around like some little housewife and wait for you to come home."

"Bella...please. You don't need to be here for this. I'm gonna make some calls, swing by a couple of places. Get cleaned up and relax. Order us some take out. I'm not gonna be long."

"That's not the point…" she grumbled.

"Can you just do what I say this one time? Jesus...you're giving me a headache."

She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. I took a left and pulled up a short gravel drive to an old, pale blue house. The grass was a little overgrown and the screen door was busted. I air conditioning unit hung out of an upstairs window. No one had lived there in a long time, that was for sure. Kline had given me a pic code of the lock box out front and I grabbed the set of keys, one for Bella and one for myself. When I went to hand them to her, I saw her glaring up at a patch of missing shingles on the roof.

"This place is a shit hole." she said.

I nodded. Yeah, it was. If we were gonna spend any length of time there, we'd have to fix a few things. I may have been a criminal but I didn't like to live in squalor. I had money, of course. We could have stayed somewhere else. But I couldn't risk a papertrail. I was sure Romano was still looking for us, maybe harder now that we'd fucked up his little business deal. This place was safe, off the grid. My name wouldn't be attached to it in anyway. That was all that mattered.

I turned the key and it stuck a little bit, but with a jiggle and maybe a little brute force, the door clicked open. The house was dark and I went around flipping switches, watching the lights flicker on, revealing a mostly empty living room and kitchen. There was an old sofa, a chair, a folding table pushed off to the side. It was clean though, so there was that at least.

"Not as bad as I expected." I said, shaking my head and tossing my bag down.

Bella did the same but didn't agree, only piled her hair up on top of her head and took one long, frustrated breath. She wandered into the kitchen and turned on the faucet. Water sputtered, then came out in a stream. The house groaned. She slashed her face, running her hands down her neck and closing her eyes. I could tell she was at the end of her rope. You and me both, kid.

"How long are we gonna be here?" she asked. "Seriously? Kline had to have said something...how long you think it's gonna take?"

I shrugged.

"Dunno. Long as it takes, I guess. Or until I feel like it would be okay for us to bail. Shit starts going down with Romano we won't have much of a choice. Otherwise, I think we're stuck here for a while."

She nodded and the water dripped down her flushed skin.

"'Kay, well if you really don't want me around while you're tracking down whoever it is...then, I'm gonna go out and get us some stuff. Think you could leave me the car?"

I really didn't like the idea of that. Last time she'd gotten ahold of my car keys she'd run off and almost gotten us both killed. But I couldn't exactly keep her locked up in this house forever. I had to trust her. If she screwed me over...well it was what it was. I nodded and took the single key and fob off the chain and threw it to her. I pulled my phone out to check it and saw that I had a few texts from the guys. They were getting in sooner than I'd thought they would.

"Hey." Bella whispered, and I realized she was closer now, leaning into my ear.

"Just wanted to point out...I'm hearing a lot of 'I's.' When I feel like it's okay...I think we're stuck...don't forget, Edward, we're partners. You're not the only one deciding."

As fair as that was, I didn't really want Bella running this show. I had enough to think about as it was. I felt my jaw tick, my nerves raw. What the hell did she want from me?

"I don't really think this is the time for you to be getting sensitive about who is or isn't in charge, sweetheart. Take the car. Go do whatever you want and let me take care of what I gotta take care of, okay?"

She shoved me hard in the shoulder and stomped out the front door. The engine roared to life, gravel crunched, and then I heard the some of someone peeling out down the street. Burning rubber. If the woman go herself arrested having her temper tantrum, there wasn't a lot I was gonna be able to do to get her out of it. The last thing I needed to be doing was drawing attention to myself, especially not from the cops and I was sure they'd love to hear all about how she got that revolver and why the serial number was ground off.

I ran my hand over my face. I was in way over my head. Totally fucked. Was Santos still supplying Torres' guys? I was sure he was. I hadn't talked to my dad in weeks but I was sure he wouldn't give up a big deal like that just because I'd gone and gotten myself mixed up in some fucked up family feud. I was even more sure he probably wouldn't be very happy about me knocking off his new business partner. I wasn't sorry and I wouldn't apologize. That was one of the main reasons I hadn't called him. If he'd been in my position, if it had been Gina that was in trouble, he would have done the same thing. Just the same, I wasn't ready to deal with that blowback just yet.

My phone buzzed again and there was a knock on the door. I checked the peephole, just in case, but I knew who it was.

"Hey, Terence...Remy." I said, waving them inside.

As usual, Remy didn't say a word. Terence smiled and patted me on the back. Despite the unsettling scar on his face, he was a friendly guy, the kind of guy that seemed like he would be fun to go have a beer with. Shoot the shit.

"Didn't see a car out front. Thought maybe you guys hadn't gotten in yet. You got anything to eat in this place?" he asked, plopping down on the ugly couch and making himself comfortable, like he owned the place.

"Nah, man. E-Angel just ran out to pick up some stuff."

I hated switching back and forth between the two names. Bella and Angel. Personally, I thought it was kind of stupid. Nobody cared who she was-no one but her father and Torres, and he was dead. Among friends, it didn't matter. But something told me it was about more than just her safety. Bella had everything compartmentalized. Her 'real' name was something personal. There was the real her and then there was this alter ego she'd invented for herself, maybe because it was easier to sin when you didn't have to be the one doing it. Maybe it was easier to keep people out that way. Whatever it was, I understood. I really did. This kinda life wasn't for everyone and it certainly wasn't easy.

"Your girl nesting? Fixin' the place up some?"

That made me chuckle.

"Uh, no. She's pissed. I better sleep with one eye open."

"How come?" Terence asked.

"She's always mad. That's her thing."

He nodded. "Fair enough."

"You get it touch with your guy?" This time it was Remy who spoke. He was standing off to the side, running a pocket knife under his slightly too long fingernails. He didn't look up when he said it. I'd almost forgotten he was even there.

"Nah. He's MIA. Called both numbers I got for him about a dozen times. Nothing. Far as I know, he still has a place down here. He was always in Charleston when I talked to him anyway, even after Torres started spending all his time down in Tampa. We can swing by."

I made it sound like nothing, but in all honesty I was a little worried something had happened to him. I had been since the night of the shootout. From what I understood, Lando was a security guy and him and little Miss Scarlet were never far from one another. His job, mostly, had been to stop exactly the sort of thing that had happened that night from happening. When she'd pulled up to the house alone, I'd known something was wrong. Then I remembered what Romano had said. He'd killed some of Torres' own guys for him, so he wouldn't get blood on his hands.

There might not be any Lando left to find. Not that I was going to tell them that.

Orlando Lori lived in a tiny one bedroom apartment on the outskirts of the city. It wasn't a particularly nice apartment but it wasn't bad. A few times when I'd passed though, he'd had me stop by for a drink or whatever. I knew he didn't spend much time there, though. Lando spent most nights working, keeping the heiress safe. Until recently.

When we pulled up to the entrance, I knew the place was empty. There was no car outside the door. The porch light was off, the blinds drawn shut. It was a nice night and, most times when I'd come around this time, he'd been outside, lounging in a plastic lawn chair, smoking a cigarette and sipping a beer. Not tonight.

"He's not here." I said, shaking my head. "But let's check it out anyway."

I hopped out of the truck and the other two followed. When I tried the knob, it was unlocked and I opened it, looking into the dark room on other side. Something in my stomach stirred and I reached for my piece, pulling it out and clicking the safety off. I walked in slowly, scanning the shadows, running my hand along the wall until I found a switch.

This was bad. This was very bad.

The place had been ransacked. Chairs knocked over, drawers emptied out on the on the carpet. The couch had been cut open and searched, the cotton pulled out and scattered around the room. What had they been looking for? Had they thought Lando was working with the feds? Turning on them? Had he been? I knew that he'd always wanted a clean life but I couldn't see him doing something like that. He was loyal, always had been. I'd known him since we were tBellagers.

And he was dead. He was definitely dead. Or he'd skipped town.

I stepped further into the apartment, looking around for something-anything that would be meaningful to us. Terrence whistled low, kicking at the couch stuffing and clutter that blocked his path.

"Damn. This guy must've really pissed someone off. Probably halfway to Mexico by now. Or worse."

Way to state the obvious.

"Yeah. I don't think he's gonna be helping us out." I mumbled.

"Whatever they were looking for...either they found it or it wasn't here. We can sift through this stuff but it'd been pretty torn up. Doesn't look like they could have missed anything and, even if he had any info on Torres' shit, I'm sure it's long gone by now."

Again, he was stating the obvious. Just the same…

"Do a quick search. I'll go look around the bedroom."

The two men nodded and I stalked off down the hall, gun first, ready to shoot if anyone was still there. When I kicked open the door at the end of the short hallway, I found more of the same. The room was trashed but it was empty. The lamp on the nightstand was still on and what I assumed had been the contents of the drawer were spread over the unmade bed-condoms, magazines, a busted pair of reading glasses, nothing useful. I turned to the small master bath and kicked that door open, too. Torn up cabinets, the mirror smashed. Why was the mirror smashed. I wasn't a detective but it confused me. Why would they break the mirror searching the place? Then something caught my eye.

Behind the toilet in the corner was a track phone. The toilet's tank had been taken off and lay cracked behind the counter. A wet plastic ziplock. I picked the phone up and checked the caller ID. A call had last been made about a week and half before. Then, there were the texts. Not much. One to an unsaved number, a simple 'I love you.' The other, to another unsaved number, 'Come now. They got me.' I looked closer at the room. The longer I looked, the more I saw. The light was dim. I hadn't seen it at first. Splatters of blood that had turned black, having dried. A pool of it in the corner, hidden behind the white porcelain. Little bits of blood in the broken shards of mirror.

They'd tried to kill Lando, but he hadn't died. He'd called for help.

I rushed out of the room, tucking my gun back into my pants.

"Terrence? Remy? We gotta go." I called out.

I found them back in the living room.

"There's nothing here, man. You find anything?"

"Lando's not dead. At least, he wasn't." I said, holding up the burner phone. "Think our boy had secrets and they tried to knock him off but he called for help after so there's gotta be someone helping him, maybe someone else in Torres' circle."

And someone he loved. Someone he'd thought to send that to before he even called for help. I assumed it was a woman. It didn't matter. All that mattered was where he was now, if the person he'd called had come through.

"No shit. Where we goin'?" Terrence asked and Remy shuffled out the front door.

"I'm gonna call this number, see if I can figure out who he was in contact with. But we might wanna check hospitals. If Torres took out a hit out on Lando I'm sure they did a hell of a number on him. They might have taken him to someone off the books but I doubt it if he was on Torres' bad side. Everyone around here was probably in his pocket."

"So you want me to call around hospitals looking for a dead guy?" Terrence asked, his brow furrowing, making his scar look a little more heinous than normal.

"Dead guy, dying guy, guy who got incredibly lucky...whatever. Orlando Lori. Black hair. Late twenties. Dragon tattoo on his neck. Let's track the motherfucker down and find out what the hell's going on around here."

"Whatever you say, bossman." Terrence said, pulling out his phone and typing furiously. I made my way out to the front porch and did the same, holding up Lando's burner and hitting redial on the number he'd called for help. I listened to it ring, my hand flexing around the cheap plastic until my knuckles hurt. It rang and it rang. I was about to hang up, then it stopped and the line was silent.

"Hello?" I said, holding my breath. "Hello, who is this?"

"How did you get this phone?" someone on the other end asked. The voice was deep, talking so low I could barely hear them.

"Where's Lando?"

Nothing. Heavy breathing.

"What happened to Lando?"

"Lando's gone."

But whoever it was didn't sound so sure.

"I'm a friend. I'm looking for him. Is he alive?"

Again, nothing. I waited. Then the line went dead.

"Goddamnit!" I screamed.

I hadn't expected much. It was a dead end and I knew it. This was new territory for me though. I was never responsible for other people. I did my job-got in and got out-and went home. That was how it had always been and now Kline expected me to run a whole operation. Not even that. He wanted me to start up an operation that didn't even exist yet.

"Come on, man. Let's roll out. There's nothing else for us to do here and we don't want the neighbors callin' the fuzz on us."

I nodded. He was right. I was losing my shit.

We loaded back up in the truck and headed back to the house. Terence talked a lot about what he thought our next move should be. He could hang back and make calls, try to figure out if Lando was alive and receiving treatment somewhere and Remy could go comb the streets. Hang around where Torres dealers were and see if he could get any intel. Considering the man barely spoke, he didn't seem like the one for the job but I didn't argue. I didn't know the guy, after all. Terence did. I stared straight ahead as we drove through the city, not really seeing the people of buildings in front of us. I was in my head over all of this, thinking about all of the things I had done to bring me to this point in my life.

I never knew my real parents, had no memory of them. What I did remember was living in a lot of different places with a lot of different people. Some of them had been alright, took me in, fed me, whatever. Some of them not so much. When I'd gotten placed in the home where I'd met Rex, I had just come from one of those not so great ones. I'd been fed up with the system, sure that if I didn't do something that things were never going to get better. That was how I'd started selling. I'd met a guy a few years older than me that year and he'd set me up. Turned out making friends was something I was good at. Unloading product...even better. But it wasn't easy being on the streets and I got into trouble, got moved again. Two placements and a few busted lips later, Santos had found me. It had been the perfect storm. I was a hell of a good dealer and he'd taught me the business.

The older I got, the more people I knew, the more jobs I got. At first, I'd just been running for Santos but by the time I was in my early twenties I was in everyone's pockets. I'd built my reputation. But I'd never built an empire. It wasn't me. I didn't have that kind of ambition. After all, I'd only wanted to get out of the shitstorm I'd started out in.

Now, it kind of felt like it had all been for nothing. I was probably gonna get my ass killed. By Romano if he found me. By Kline if I messed this up. By Bella if she fucking felt like it. And who knew what roach was about to come crawling out of the woodwork to try to take Torres' throne?

When we pulled up into the driveway of the house, I saw that the car was back and hoped to God Bella had picked up something for me to drink. The tension was rolling off me and I felt like I was about to explode. As much as I had tried to be the voice of reason, as much as I had tried to sooth her concerns about this whole thing, it was freaking me out just as much if not more.

Terence and I headed in and Remy pulled away, without so much as a goodbye. I'd expected the house to be quiet but it wasn't. There was a small AV television in the corney playing some old black and white movie and that made me smile just the slightest bit. The sound of someone rustling through plastic bags filled my ears and I looked up to find Bella in the kitchen, unloading takeout boxes on the small formica countertop. There were grocery bags, too, and a handle of her favorite whiskey already opened and poured into a solo cup beside her.

"Honey, I'm home!" I called and she turned to glare at me. "Aw, come on, baby. Don't be like that. Whatcha got in there?"

"Chinese." she muttered, shoving a big forkful of chicken in her mouth and chasing it with the whiskey.

I grabbed the cup from her and did the same. She shoved me, but she didn't seem as angry as she had when I'd left. Terence chuckled behind us, mumbling something about how we were a hot mess, and went about fixing his own plate.

"You bought a tv?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "I wasn't gonna just sit in this house in silence for however long we're here. It was cheap. Found it at a goodwill. Found a lot of stuff, actually. Including some real nice blankets for you to use when you're sleeping on the couch tonight."

She grinned tightly, clearly satisfied with herself and I pecked her on the cheek.

"I'm not sleeping on the fucking couch."

"You wanna bet? Why don't you tell me what you were up to tonight and then we can talk."

I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Didn't really accomplish much, kid."

"Don't call me kid. And how come? What happened? You didn't find that guy?"

I stared at her, not really sure what to say.

"No, not yet. We're working on it."

"We could all work on it, you know." Her mouth was full of rice and the words came out garbled.

"There's nothing else to do right now, okay?"

We watched each other for a long time. She didn't think I was telling her the whole truth and I wasn't. It pissed her off but that was just too bad. I couldn't, not right then. Not until I figured out what the hell was coming next. So, instead, I went and plopped down on the couch, taking the bottle of Jameson with me. Terence talked on the phone over in the corner and Bella watched the tv from the doorway. Neither of us said a word. I thought, thought of all the possibilities and how to deal with them. For the first time in my life, I didn't even know where to start.

And that terrified me.

Chapter Three

It was five o'clock in the morning when Terence came to get me to tell me he had found Lando. And I was not sleeping on the couch. Bella was curled up on the other side of the bed and I laid awake, staring at the cracks in the ceiling, thinking. More and more thinking.

I sat up and snuck out carefully, pulling my jeans up as I went and tugging my t-shirt over my head. We didn't say a word until we were outside, standing next to the car in the driveway. The night was relatively quiet around us, aside from a few people who were getting up to go to work. He passed me his phone with an address and I nodded.

"So he is in the hospital." I said, my voice still a little rough.

"Yeah. Barely survived whatever happened to him. Told 'em I was his brother. He's in the ICU. Has been for the last week-and-a-half or so. They must have hit him just before we came down to Charleston the first time."

"I figured." I said. "That's why Scarlet Torres was alone that night. They'd knocked off her main body guard."

"Why would they do that? And why wouldn't they give her someone else then?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe they thought he was a rat. Maybe he pissed them off. Maybe Torres didn't care about his wife all that much. Sure didn't seem like it. Only one way to find out."

"Want me to have Remy come out here to keep an eye on things?"

I thought about that for a second. I was pretty sure if Bella woke up with someone in the house guarding her, she'd cut my balls off. Just the same, I worried.

"Tell him he can hang around outside, out of sight. I don't need her any more pissed than she already is. Either way, she can handle herself just fine."

"Whatever you say, man. Let's go see what we're dealing with and I'll shoot Rembo a text."

"Rembo? Very clever, Terence." Fitting, considering the way he liked to slice people up. Sylvester Stallone looking motherfucker...

"What can I say? I'm a real wordsmith."

I chuckled a little but I wasn't exactly in the mood for humor. I was more in the mood for answers and something told me Terence had more than I did.

"We gettin' a shipment any time soon?" I asked. If we were moving in on Torres' turf, I assumed we'd need to start moving our own product soon. That I could handle. "I mean, we got guys, don't we?"

Terence nodded.

"Soon. We've got a few guys down here recruiting but they won't be ready right away. It's a sticky situation finding people to work when we don't know who's wrapped up with the operation down here. That's why we need your buddy. If he's willing to flip, which after this, I'd think he would be, then we can use him for intel. Little bit of insurance we don't step on the wrong toes before we get a foothold. Hopefully, in a year or two, we'll be running the whole thing."

A year or two. That sounded like forever. Would I be there that long, under Kline's thumb? Warring with whoever it was that was in change now? I didn't want to think about it.

"Okay...we'll see if Lando can help then, but who knows what kind of shape he's in. Regardless, we need to start putting soldiers on the streets. No point in us being here if we're not doing business."

Terence grunted and I settled into my seat, trying to prepare myself for whatever came next.

When we got to the hospital, we stopped by the nurses station in the ICU and were led down the hall to a small private room. The nurse told us she'd have someone come in soon to let us know what all was going on with Lando. Not that I needed anyone to. He looked like shit-busted face, and a huge bandage over his chest. He wasn't conscious and I was pretty sure he saw in a coma. The guy was lucky they hadn't shot him in the head instead of whatever it was they'd actually done.

"So this is what we're betting on, huh? He looks like a vegetable." Terence groaned, falling back into the ugly waiting room chair and crossing his arms.

"I guess. Kline's the one running the show. He wanted me to find my old contact. So, here he is. Mission accomplished."

"So, what do we do now? What if our boy's down for the count? You were supposed to be heading this up."

I snorted. "I'm not your boss, Terence. If you've got any suggestions, I'm all ears. I'm a distributor. I don't know shit about street dealing."

"Rex said you used to sell when you were a kid. What about that."

Really?

"I was a fucking kid. Albeit, I wasn't too bad at it but it's not the same thing.

I sold dime bags to neighborhood kids."

Then there was a knock on the door. A tall, skinny woman in scrubs stepped into the room and gave us both a sad smile. She looked tired. Hell, I was tired. It felt like I hadn't slept in days. She came further into the room and offered Terence her hand first, then me.

"Hi, I'm Karen. I'm Orlando's nurse."

"Terry. And this is Damon." he said, grinning tightly back at her.

Damon? Really? What that the best he could come up with on the spot?

"You're Mr. Lori's brothers?" she asked, her eyes narrowing a little bit. Lando and I could have maybe passed for brothers. We both had dark hair, dark eyes, a little bit of a deeper complexion. Terrence, on the other hand, was all blonde and blue eyed with pale skin. Not to mention how he towered over all of us. He was almost freakishly tall and his frame was imposing. Perfect for muscle. Not so much for fitting in.

But Terence didn't skip a beat.

"Half brothers. Is he gonna be okay?"

"Yeah." I said. "What's the damage?"

The nurse pursed her lips.

"The doctor's not in right now but I can tell you what I know. Your brother was dropped out front with a gunshot wound to the chest, some pretty serious injuries to his head, too. He has a concussion but that's nothing he won't recover from. The gunshot wound, on the other hand, nicked his heart. We got him into surgery to repair the damage as soon as we could. He was a in a medically induced coma for the first week. It's been a few days. He's woke up a few times but he is having some mental confusion. He'll live but it's gonna be a long road."

I took in a deep breath.

"How long's he gonna be laid up for...I mean…" I faltered a little bit, doing my best to play the part of concerned family member. "When can we take him home?"

"I really couldn't tell you." she said. "That's something you would have to ask the doctor about. He's stable but he's going to need physical therapy. And rest. Lots of rest. It's just gonna take time."

We didn't have time.

Then someone groaned beside me. The bed shuffled and I looked over to find Lando prying open his eyes, staring at us in confusion. He was clearly in a lot of pain which I guessed was to be expected. When Karen, or whatever her name was, realized he was up she offered us another sad smile and muttered 'I'll give you boys some time alone' before going back out into the hall and closing the door silently behind her.

"D...Edward? What're you doing here?"

"Shit's goin' down, bud. Came to find you. We need your expertise."

"Expertise?" he murmured, his voice strained like he hadn't used it in a long time. He probably hadn't.

"We can't talk here." Terence cut in and I nodded.

"We gotta get him out."

Now that he'd been all stitched up, I was sure we could get someone on the payroll to make sure he kept on breathing. It was just a matter of getting the hospital to let him go. We could pay someone off to sign him out, I guessed, but that sounded kinda risky. Sneaking him out didn't sound like too good of an option either.

"No way that's gonna happen."

"Maybe we could get him transferred somewhere...more private?"

Terence cracked his knuckles and ran a hand over the back of his neck.

"What? Like a rehab place?"

I shrugged.

"Yeah, maybe. Someplace no one's gonna look for him. His name's on the books here. If they realize he's not dead, it won't be hard for them to find him. Didn't take us any time at all. Hours."

"Can you guys...stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Lando grunted, sounding exhausted.

"Sorry man."

But honestly he didn't have a say in this. It wasn't about him or what he wanted. It was about accomplishing a goal and getting the hell out. Maybe I'd retire after this, go straight. I was getting too old for this bullshit and I was in way over my head. It made me tired. Not that I'd ever actually get out of the game. I'd been at it too long and I didn't know how to do anything else. Aside from that, it's not easy to explain away a thirty-some-year-old man with virtually no work experience. I couldn't exactly put drug smuggling on a resume.

"Rest up." I told him and patted him on the leg. "We'll work some shit out. Wherever we end up putting you up, I bet you'll like it better than this dump."

She shrugged.

"Whatever, Edward. Don't really care. They shoulda put a bullet in my head, not my heart. I don't give a shit anymore."

He wanted to die and I got that. If it had happened to me, I wouldn't have wanted to be saved either. But he'd called for help, not knowing how bad it really was or what waited for him on the other side and now he was ours. He didn't have any other choice, nowhere else to go. Torres had tried to cut him loose and I was sure if we left him here long enough, someone would be coming back to finish the job.

"When I ask you a question, you better sing like a canary. Otherwise, I'm gonna drop your ass off outside whatever shithole your boys are operating out of and they can string you up and roast you over a spit for all I care. Got it?"

He shrugged again.

Damn. He really didn't care.

"Let's head out, Terence. Nothing else to do right now."

"Wait." Lando said and I turned back to him. "I'll help you guys. Whatever you want...okay? But if I do…" He took a deep, uncomfortable breath. "I want something in return. Just one thing."

"And what's that?" I asked. Was he really trying to bargain right now?

"We can talk...later. When I'm out."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"We'll see, Lando. We'll see."

The two of us marched out of the small hospital room, closing the door behind us. I clenched my jaw, feeling the stress eating away at me. It was the kind of feeling you got when you'd done something embarrassing or wrong and you couldn't get it out of your head-just this nagging, maddening discomfort. Terrence clapped a hand on my back and said something about stopping by the nurses station to find out when we would be able to talk to the doctor and get a feel for the timeline on Lando's release. I wasn't listening. My thoughts were loud and I couldn't hear anything else. I almost didn't hear my phone ringing.

"Hello?" I said, picking up. The other end of the line was quiet for a second before Bella's voice came over the receiver.

"Edward?"

"What's wrong?"

She sounded a little out of breath and I felt my heart drop into my stomach.

"We've got a problem."

That was all she said. My imagination ran wild.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She huffed another breath. "I'm fine. It's just...you guys need to get back here. Right fucking now."

"What happened?"

My heart was pounding out of my chest.

"Just come back now! I'm serious, Edward."

I didn't say anything else, just hung up the phone and went to grab Terence. As far as I knew, nobody knew we were in South Carolina but I could be wrong. Obviously, something had gone wrong. Why Bella couldn't just tell me what it was over the phone, I didn't know. I guessed she just enjoyed giving me a damn ulcer.

"What the fuck is this?"

The question left my mouth in a whoosh. I was floored.

Bella stood in the middle of the living room of the small house in nothing but my t-shirt and pair of grungy looking socks. There was a small bruise forming just below her left eye and her legs were a little banged up but otherwise she looked normal. Beside her, was a man in much worse shape, tied to a kitchen chair with various impromptu restraints. Blood dripped from a big gash on his cheek and pooled on the white cotton of his shirt. His eyes were closed and his head drooped forward. Whatever she had done to him, the guy should be embarrassed. He was twice her size and I didn't see her gun anywhere, meaning she had taken him out without the help of her handy-dandy revolver.

"What happened?" Terence asked, his mouth falling open a little bit.

"Fuck if I know." she groaned. "I wake up and you guys are gone. I come downstairs to make myself something to eat and next thing I know this guy comes up behind me and bends me over the freakin' counter, screaming about drugs or some shit. I don't know. Joke's on him 'cause I got the drop on him when he was fucking with his damn zipper."

That got my attention. I felt myself fill with rage.

"Did he try to rape you?"

Bella shrugged.

"Whatever. He took a butcher knife to the face. Got one good hit in though." she said and ran a finger over the little shiner he'd given her. "I clocked him with the cast iron I was gonna use to make french toast."

The way she said it was so nonchalant, like it was no big deal. Like it had happened a million times before. I knew, considering she'd spent so many years on the road, taking rides from strangers, that she'd probably encountered a lot of unsavory characters in her time. But, for some reason, the idea that someone attacking her that way didn't even phase her made me see red. She brushed it off like it was just another day at the office and I wondered how many times something like that had happened. There was a reason the woman knew how to handle herself.

My head snapped to Terence.

"Where the hell was Remy?"

He shook his head.

"I don't know. I sent him a text telling him to come over here and keep an eye on things."

"You sent Remy to babysit me?" Bella snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, well, clearly it wasn't a bad idea, considering." I gestured to the guy in the chair. "Call him. Find out where he is and why the fuck he wasn't here."

Terence nodded and stepped out, the screen door to the front porch slamming behind him. I took a few steps forward, closing the distance between Bella and I, trying to control the hammering in my chest. My nostrils flared and I wanted nothing more than to pull out my gun and put a bullet in the strangers head. But we needed answers. Who was he? Who was he involved with? Most importantly, we needed to know why he was here.

"Are you okay?" I asked, running my finger lightly over the puffy red splotch on her cheek.

"I'm fine, Edward."

"That bastard tried to touch you…"

"Nothing happened." she assured me. "Pretty sure I hurt him worse than he hurt me. I've got a few bruises. So what? No big deal."

I bent down and brushed my lips over hers. Her mouth fell open immediately and I deepened the kiss, running his hands up and down her slender arms. She was so small...and so ruthless. Sometimes, I thought she really was an angel-a cruel, murderous angel made just for me. She leaned into me, her body pressing flush against mine, and her fingers ghosted over the waistband of my jeans, sending blood pulsing lower. We fit together so perfectly, as much as she liked to deny it. I wanted her so badly and when she moaned into my mouth I knew she wanted me too. I nipped at her bottom lip with my teeth and pulled away, sighing.

"You and I have business to attend to...once we deal with this fucker."

She smiled, her dark eyes full of mischief.

"Is that a promise?"

She hooked her fingers inside my jeans then and tugged me closer.

This woman.

I raised a brow at her.

"Have I ever broken a promise to you?" I said. She shook her head. "Damn straight. Not gonna start now. But we got an interrogation to conduct here soon."

"Ooh. Do I get to water board him?"

"Whatever you want, baby." I smiled. And I meant it. She could have whatever she wanted, as far as I was concerned.

"I'd like you to answer some questions, too. Where were you this morning?"

I groaned. I really didn't want to get into this was her right now but I also knew she wasn't gonna let up. She'd been raging against my efforts to keep her in the dark since we'd gotten to South Carolina the day before. Even if I told her to stop asking, she wouldn't. In fact, the woman didn't have an obedient bone in her body. So, instead of trying to blow the question off, I sighed and told her everything. She nodded as I spoke, her brows furrowing as I explained everything that had happened with Lando. I could tell she was worried. I was worried, too.

"You think that has something to do with this?" she asked, nodding her head in the direction of our captor.

"Pretty damn sure it does. Someone knows we're in town, that's for sure."

"So much for the element of surprise…"

"I thought we'd have more time to prepare for this kind of retaliation shit. We don't even have any product to move yet. Not that it isn't pretty obvious what we're here to do. We killed their fucking kind and now we're setting up shop in their territory. Whoever's running the show now, they know what we're up to."

Bella shrugged.

"Of course they do. They're not stupid. You need to stop sidelining me. I can help. I'm not a kid, you know."

"I know you're not. I just...you've been through a lot of shit. You can't even walk right. I don't want you out there raising hell trying to prove a point."

She rolled her eyes at me, stepping back.

"Again, I'm not a kid. And you're not my dad. I don't have one of those."

"Well, maybe that's the problem." I smirked, moving towards her and closing the space between us. "Didn't have anyone to teach you how to fucking behave."

I smacked her on the ass and she squealed, shoving me hard in the chest.

"You gonna teach me, old man? I don't think so."

"I'm not old." I defended and she laughed.

"So old…"

"Well that's pretty strange of you, then...to be so attracted to such an old man."

"Whoever said I'm attracted to you, huh?"

She stared up at me, a challenge in her eyes. We both knew this was a fight she was going to lose but she squared up with me anyway, spine straight, chest heaving against mine. I hooked my arm around her waist, running my hand down her stomach and snaking it up the oversized shirt she'd worn to bed. When my fingers met naked skin, I breathed in deep. She wasn't wearing any underwear and when I slipped between her lips, I felt the wetness pooling between her legs. I stroked her playfully and her eyes fluttered shut for a second before she gathered herself again. I withdrew my hand and put my fingers to my lips, sucking, tasting her.

"I'm gonna say that speaks volumes about whether or not you're attracted to me."

"You're not playing fair." she argued.

"All is fair in love and war…"

I could see the way her body tensed at the mention of love. She'd told me she loved me too but the idea was still uncomfortable to her. She was afraid. Hell, I was afraid. I'd never really felt that way about someone before her. I hadn't believed in it, to be honest. What it was about Bella that had made me change my mind, I didn't know. All I knew was that I had this incredible desire to be close to her, for her to want me close, too. Maybe it was the sex. Maybe it was the way she constantly challenged me. Or maybe love was just something no one could control or reason through. I didn't know and I didn't care.

I grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her lips to mine, wanting to drive home my point. My tongue slid along hers and she moaned a little louder than was probably appropriate considering the circumstances but most of our exchange that morning had been inappropriate. Hell, some of it had been downright dirty. I thought about the way she tasted, the way our stupid banter had obviously turned her on, and I couldn't hold back anymore. Fuck the asshole tied up in the chair behind us. Fuck Terence. I needed more.

I kissed her deeper, my hands drifting lower, fingers digging into her hips. I thrust my hips against hers and she clutched me harder, tugging at my shirt. I walked her back towards the kitchen until her back hit the edge of the island, then lifted her up, positioning myself between her legs. She was spread open wide and I fumbled with the button of my jeans.

Then something stirred behind us. A shuffle. A groan. We both stopped. I looked over my shoulder and then the man tied to the chair was shouting and jerking. This was gonna have to wait. I sighed, pressed a chaste kiss to Bella's lips and pulled back.

"Later. Come on. We gotta go to work."

Chapter Three

An hour later, Bella and I had gagged our intruder and moved him into the guest room upstairs, being sure to close the shades so that the neighbors wouldn't see him struggling. The guy was a fighter. I had to give him that. He was still trying to scream around the washrag we'd stuffed in his mouth.

"You feeling better?" I asked her when she came to join me in our makeshift interrogation room. Her hair was soaking wet and piled up on top of her head haphazardly.

"Now that I have pants on, yeah." She pulled out her gun and grinned up at me. "Wanna play good cop, bad cop?"

"Who gets to be the bad cop?"

She raised her eyebrows and turned, leaning over our captive. The smile on her lips spread wider and she jammed the barrel of the revolver into his crotch. He groaned and slammed his eyes shut, clearly in pain. I would have felt bad for the bastard on the receiving end of her rage if I hadn't known what he'd planned to do to my woman when he showed up that morning.

"I'm gonna take this gag off and you'd better not scream. If you do…" she said, applying a little more pressure. "I'll blow your ball sack off. Got it?"

He nodded furiously and she looked up at me again. I moved to untie the scarf from around his head and then pulled the rag from his mouth. He gasped and sputtered, his eyes watering. It wasn't his day and things were just getting started.

"Who sent you?" I snapped.

Bella didn't move.

"Fuck you!" he spat and she cocked the gun.

He recoiled, pushing further back in the chair.

"You better answer before my girl here gets impatient and wastes your ass."

Sweat dripped from his forehead.

"Listen, I was just following orders, man."

"I don't really care what you were doin'. I wanna know who the fuck sent you?"

"Since the boss has been missing, stuff's been kinda chaotic. I don't know. My guy just told me...he said...please don't shoot me." he bubbered.

What a pussy.

"Who's the boss, huh?"

He sniffed, Bella still threatening his manhood, and mumbled through his panic, "Vincent Torres. It's Torres."

"I figured as much. Who sent you here, though? Who's running stuff now?"

"I don't know."

I really wasn't buying that.

"You do fucking know." I hissed, thinking for a second. "Babe, why don't you give our guest some space? I got this shit."

She looked at me in question but withdrew her weapon and backed away, trusting me. The fact that she trusted me made me want to smile like a lunatic but I bit the inside of my cheek, doing my best to keep a straight face. Now wasn't the time to go soft over some small show of solidarity between the two of us. I pulled the knife I'd been holding onto since way back when we'd been tied up in the basement of Charles's torture house and flipped it open, running my thumb over the sharpened edge.

"You know anything about Orlando Lori?" I asked.

He shook his head but I saw the recognition flash in his eyes.

"He's lying." Bella said, leaning against the doorframe.

I nodded and sauntered towards him. I reached out, running the blade over his exposed neck, down his chest, pressing the tip into the hollow just above his collar bone. I could kill him so easily, one slip and he'd be nothing but a gasping, gurgling mess on the floor. The idea was appealing but I needed whatever information he had on our enemies first.

"You tell me what I wanna know and I won't slice you open. We got a deal?"

I pressed the blade in a little bit, drawing blood and he nodded, his nostrils flaring as he huffed in quick, frantic breaths. Watching his squirm made my heart thump a little bit faster, the thrill of the possible kill drowning out the thoughts that had consumed me for the last few days. It was easier this way, focusing on just one task instead of the overwhelming to-do list I'd been mulling over in my head since all of this got set into motion. Suddenly, I thought maybe I would be better at this that I'd originally thought. If I could just get through one thing at a time, commit one brutality at a time without considering what would come next...maybe I would make a good drug lord after all.

"I don't know his name. I've never met him. All I know is that he's Miss Scarlet's uncle."

Well, I hadn't really expected that. As far as I'd known, Scarlet's family was clean. It was Torres who had turned their money dirty. Evidently, I had been wrong.

"And why come here? Why come after her, huh? You knew she was alone."

I was sure he'd staked out the house before he went in. Had he seen me leave? Maybe. Probably. If he had half a brain. He'd been sent here to send a message and Bella had been the target.

"We knew why you guys were here. And we knew all about you and Lando, too. Fucker didn't know his place."

Someone suddenly had some spunk. I pressed my blade a little deeper.

"Is that why he got a hit taken out on him?"

"He fucked with the wrong people. He got what he deserved."

"Huh. Maybe. Or maybe you fuckers are shitty at killing people."

His eyes widened a fraction and I couldn't help my smile this time. I was going to kill him anyways. After what he'd been planning on doing to Bella, there was no way I was going to let him live. Getting to taunt him beforehand was just a bonus.

"You mean...he's…"

"That's right, motherfucker. You did a piss poor job. And lemme tell you, he's not feeling too gracious about the organization these days. I'm gonna know every single thing he does. Only a matter of time. He's gonna sing like a canary. So your boys better watch their backs."

"We done here?" Bella asked from behind me.

He wasn't gonna say much else, that I knew. I doubted he knew much. He was a foot soldier and I was willing to bet he'd been sent with the knowledge that there was a good chance he wouldn't be coming back alive. They knew how I felt about Bella-hell, I'd started a war over it-and they were trying to exploit that, let me know they weren't gonna roll over and play dead. Had she not been who she was, had I come back and found her hurt-or worse, dead-I would have tracked the bastard down and ended him.

I shook my head.

"No guns. Too loud. Wouldn't wanna freak out the neighbors."

I thrust the knife forward, putting my weight behind it, and watched his eyes widen, his mouth fall open in shock. Honestly, I didn't know why he was surprised. How could he be? But I guessed everybody always hoped against hope, even in the most dire circumstances, that they would somehow live. Dying snuck up on everybody, even when they had a knife to their throat. I watched the blood trickle down his torso, pooling on the scuffed hardwood floor beneath him, watched the life drain from his eyes as he twitched and gasped, a sickening gurgling sound coming from the back of his throat. He was dead in a minute and I huffed a sigh of relief.

A second later, I felt Bella behind me, her arms snaking around my waist and down until her hands slipped into my front pockets and pulled me back against her. She leaned her cheek against my back and pressed a brief kiss to my bicep.

"You made a mess." she murmured.

"Ha. Yeah, I guess I did. Not too bad though."

"We're gonna have to dump the body."

More kisses up my arm. Something about sharing in the violence, the darkness that lived in both of us. Real recognize real and all that bullshit. Right then, we were ourselves, laid bare to each other in the most honest way. We watched the man's body slump in front of us and neither of us flinched. There was nothing to hide. We were a team.

"Lemme add that to my list of things." I chuckled and she did too, pressing her forehead between my shoulder blades.

"I'll help you clean up."

She said it like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"We're gonna have to wait 'til it gets dark. I'll give Terence a heads up. He can help carry him out. Don't have any idea where we're gonna take him. I'm not too familiar with the terrain around here."

"Maybe we don't need to worry about people finding him." she said and I turned to face her.

"What're you talking about? You wanna catch a murder charge?"

She shrugged, dark eyes wide.

"After today? Maybe we need to send a message."

I stared down at her. What she was saying went against all of my instincts but I couldn't say she was wrong. If it were possible to inherit the mafia mentality, Bella had. She'd never known her father, not really, but she took to the game like a duck to water. Send a message? That was some mafia shit for sure. If Romano was looking for an heir, he was making a big mistake overlooking his daughter. I ran a hand through my hair and took a deep breath, nodding.

"Guess so. Goddamnit. You're right. We need to start moving product. If we're gonna go to war, I want something to fucking fight for. It doesn't mean shit if we aren't making money and Kline can't cool his heels forever."

I felt hot and twitchy. I needed to channel my energy into something else, something I knew. And selling? That was something I was good at. That was something I could do. I pressed a quick kiss to her lips and pulled away.

"I'm gonna go get some supplies, find a fucking tarp or something to wrap him up in. Jesus...you good?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. There's some bleach and stuff under the sink. I was gonna clean the bathrooms and stuff but this is probably more important."

I chuckled.

"Ya think? This is getting to be something of a habit of ours, I guess. What's the body count now?"

"I have no idea." she said, shaking her head. "The shootout at the villa was kinda chaotic and I wasn't exactly lucid for the cleanup."

That she wasn't. The fact that she'd almost died still pissed me off beyond all reason. If I hadn't met her, if she hadn't wandered into Santos' bar, if she hadn't been so goddamn gorgeous…I wouldn't be in this situation. I thought about everything that had brought me here-how I'd hated her, that time in the car she'd leaned in and told me she'd kill me, the way people responded to her. The way I responded to her, even when I didn't want to. And then there was that first night, and the nights after. Everything about her fascinated me. Her smart mouth, her weird movies, the way she dove head first into everything, like nothing scared her. Her confidence was staggering and my confidence that she could never bore me was solid. I had never met anyone like her.

Crazy and incredibly damaged. But that was her.

"Why don't you finish making that french toast you were talking about." I said, smacking her on the ass.

She yelped.

"I'm not your fucking maid...but since you took out the trash…" She gestured to the body behind us. "...I guess I can do that. I'll warn you, though. I'm a shit cook."

"Noted. Don't start any grease fires."

"I'll do my best." she laughed.

But regardless of our witty banter, we had some real serious problems. I'd taken the rug from the living room and wrapped whoever he was up in it. It'd been old and shitty anyway. There was a lot of blood. I was starting to feel like I was just spreading it around. There was pile of bloody towels to my left and I tossed another one aside. Terence was out, meeting with someone about something that he said was important and I was starting to get a little pissed about the whole thing. No one was telling me shit, at least not the shit I wanted to know. I hadn't heard from Kline and I didn't know the plan. All I knew was that something would happen sometime. It was too vague and I didn't like it.

The smell of food coming from downstairs was really tempting. I didn't wanna deal with this right now. I wanted to eat and relax and take a fucking second to get myself together. My hands were red and sticky and it was grossing me out a little bit. Killing was easy. The clean up on the other hand...I couldn't stand it.

Fifteen minutes later, the floorboards were relatively gore free. I would have to go back later and do a more thorough job but it was good enough for now. My phone dinged. It was Terence, letting me know he wouldn't be back 'til late but that he could help out with our little situation then. Fuck that. Bella and I could handle it on our own.

"It's looking better in here." she said.

Speak of the devil. She handed me a plate and I held up my hands, shaking my head. I needed to wash up before I did anything. Looking down, I noticed I'd gotten some blood on my jeans, too. Great.

"Lemme go get changed real quick and we can eat downstairs. Also, we're gonna have to deal with this ourselves cause the boys are MIA."

She shrugged. "No problem. But you gotta take the heavy side."

"Fair enough." I chuckled.

When I looked like myself again, I found Bella waiting for me on the sofa. Her legs were curled under her and she stared straight ahead at the television screen, her mouth full, her lips curled up slightly at whatever it was she was watching. She looked so relaxed. What the hell was wrong with her?

"You seem awfully calm." I commented.

She chewed quickly, gulping her food down so she could answer.

"Am I not supposed to be calm?"

I tilted my head to the side, considering her.

"You haven't been calm a second since we've been here."

"I don't know. I guess I'm adjusting. And at least I got to do something today."

"Fending off attackers put you in a good mood."

She laughed. "It was something. The quicker we get stuff rolling, the quicker we can get out of here."

"You wanna get back out on the road. I know." It wasn't a question. One day playing house and she was getting squirrely. "You know, when this is over it might be nice if you could stay at my place in Chicago with me for a while without going nuts. Maybe you need to get used to staying put for a second."

I plopped down on the couch next to her and she passed me a plate, pursing her lips, her eyes scanning my face. I shook my head, silently asking her what was wrong.

"You want me to come home with you when this is over?"

"Yeah. I kinda like you, ya know. I'd like to keep you around."

Her eyes narrowed a little further.

"Like...live in Chicago?"

I shrugged. "Well, yeah. Obviously we gotta deal with the whole Romano thing. Can't be running into his ass again. That would be awkward."

It was a poor attempt at a joke. She didn't crack a smile.

"I don't really think sticking around there would be a good idea for me...even after we deal with Romano."

I nodded. "Then fuck Chicago. The traffic's a pain anyway. Nashville's nice. Wouldn't mind getting a place down there."

"I don't want you to do that."

"Why not?" I shoved another forkful of food in my mouth.

"'Cause you shouldn't leave your home for me." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I don't really have a home like that, Bella. Never have. You think I care if I come home to Chicago or Nashville? Or wherever? What I would like is to be able to keep getting my balls busted by you on a regular basis."

That got me a little laugh from her.

"Sounds fun...I don't know if I could do that though."

"I know you don't. One step at a time, right?"

"I guess." she sighed. "So what's the first step? I think we should dump Richard Ramirez on the beach."

I chuckled. "Richard Ramirez? You one of those people that likes to read up on famous criminals?"

"If the shoe fits." she said, her eyebrows shooting up. "Seriously, though. They should know what happens when they send some flunky to fuck with us."

I nodded, setting my breakfast down on the coffee table and sitting back.

"I'm really sorry that shit happened, Bella. You shouldn't have been here by yourself. I thought...Remmy was supposed to be watching the house to make sure nothing like that happened."

"I don't need-"

"I know, I know. You can take care of yourself. It still shouldn't have happened. This isn't a game, Bella. We're in the major leagues now. These people aren't gonna fuck around. You're not invincible, clearly…" I gestured to her leg where she'd been shot.

"I didn't die." She said it so flippantly.

"You almost did."

"Well I didn't."

"Yeah and you're fucking lucky."

"Listen. Don't feel all guilty about it. It's not your fault and I took care of it so no big deal. We finished the job. End of story. We're gonna live to fight another day."

"I guess." I groaned, running a hand through my hair. It was getting too long. I needed it cut. "We get some info out of Lando, get a shipment in...shit's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better."

"Yeah, I kinda knew that going into this. That's why I didn't wanna come down here. But, whatever. I get we have to do it. We owe people...I hate it. And I'm really starting to hate South Carolina."

For some reason, I started laughing. I laughed long and hard, the kind of laugh that look all of your breath away, and I couldn't stop. Of all the things to hate, South Carolina was the least of them. Up until the last few times I'd been here, I'd really enjoyed it. The first time we'd been here together, I'd tried to get her out sightseeing. Things had definitely changed a lot since then.

"I don't know what you think is so funny." she grumbled and I pulled her into me, smashing my lips to hers.

They were sticky and at first she tensed. After a second though, her mouth fell open and I slipped my tongue inside. She tasted sickeningly sweet and she moaned into me, her back arching when my fingers clutched at her side. Her dish went clattering to the floor and I climbed over her, covering her body with mine. Patience was not her virtue and a second later her hands were tugging at my belt, unbuckling, unbuttoning, tugging the fabric out of the way. I did the same, pushing her jeans down over her hips. It had been too long and she squirmed under me, kicking them off. When she wrapped her hand around my cock, I groaned, my tongue sliding against hers.

"Now." she said, her hand making uncoordinated, jerky movements. "Edward…"

I complied, fisting myself and lining up at her entrance. She was soaking wet and it made my dick twitch. She didn't want it gentle, and neither did I. We never did. I thrust violently forwards and she cried out, her legs falling wide open for me so I could push in deeper. Her warmth wrapped around me and I dropped my head into the crook of her neck, focusing on the way her muscles contracted around me. She shifted on the couch, urging me to move and I did, pulling almost all the way out and slamming back in. She gasped and I swallowed it.

I ran my hands up her body, finding the hem of her shirt and lifting it so I could feel more of her. When my fingertips met her hard nipple, I pinched it roughly, anticipating the rise I would get out of her. I was right. She fucking loved it.

I pounded into her and she tugged hard on my hair, her head tilted back, her eyes closed tight, mouth wide open. I wasn't going to last long so I shifted up onto my knees, grabbing her ass and pulling her with me, hitting her from a different angle. I rubbed circles over her clit and she ground into me, pushing up on her elbows to watch what we were doing, her eyes dark and hooded. She bit her lip so hard I thought she might break the skin and I fucked her harder. Balls clenched and I rubbed her harder, wanting to feel her come on my cock.

A second later she did, her body twitching a writhing as I pulled out and came onto her lower stomach. We were both panting, sweaty. The room reeked of sex. I couldn't imagine anything better. My heart pounded, slowing gradually and I fell on my back, completely spent.

"You made another mess." she chuckled, laying back on the other side of the sofa.

I laughed.

"Yeah. I guess I did. Sorry not sorry."

"You wanna get me something to clean this up? I can't move."

I pulled my t-shirt off and tossed it at her, too tired to get up.

"Seriously?" she snapped.

"We'll wash it. It's fine."

"You're gross."

She sat up and crawled over to me, smacking me on the chest.

"You didn't think I was gross a minute ago." I chuckled and pulled her down, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her on the forehead.

"Touche." she mumbled.

We laid their quietly for a while, sleepy and half naked, and it was easy, comfortable. I stroked down Bella's side and she played with the little clump of hair on my chest. I didn't think about the body in the spare room or Kline or Torres or anything. I just closed my eyes and let myself relax. When her fingers grazed the angel wings tattoo low on my stomach, I felt her smile against my skin and I smiled too. Fuck it. There was plenty of time to worry. Now wasn't it.

"Love you, kid." I hummed.

She didn't say anything back but she didn't need to. She was there. That said enough. Bella didn't stay anywhere she didn't want to be, for one reason or another. And right then, we were both exactly where we wanted to be.


	4. Hey Guys!

Hey all! Just wanted to let you know that the published version of this story is on Kindle Unlimited now so if you have Kindle Unlimited you can download it for free. News about the sequel is up on the facebook page, Eminemini. You guys gave me the confidence to put my story out there and I dearly appreciate each and every one of you. Love you all! Thanks.


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